DOHA: Pakistan’s Mohammad Sajjad saw his campaign at the IBSF World Snooker Champi­onship come to a close after a 4-2 defeat to America’s Andy McCloskey in the last 16 of the second event on Thursday.

The national championship runner-up, who entered the secondary tournament after his loss in the main event’s round-of-16, started the day strongly.

He dispatched the UAE’s Abdulla Alattar in a dominant 4-0 victory in the round-of-32.

However, his momentum was halted by a resilient McCloskey in the following round.

The American took a back-and-forth encounter, claiming the first frame 71-41 before Sajjad responded with a strong 80-1 win to level.

McCloskey reclaimed the lead by taking a low-scoring third frame 45-11 and then extended his advantage with a 71-11 victory in the fourth, fuelled by a break of 65.

Facing elimination, Sajjad fought back to take the fifth frame 79-40, but McCloskey sealed the match and a place in the quarter-finals by winning the sixth frame 73-35.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2025